What Does a Social Disaster Sound Like?

I read the full page ad by the gang of 88, the disaffected faculty from Duke University that rushed to condemn the now famous lacrosse players. It is important mind you, that they are not disaffected from the institution called Duke University, but from reality. They can't even get it right after all the dust has settled and Mike Nifong has been exposed. They are now attempting to clarify what they "really meant" by the original statement that you can no longer read unless you look elsewhere. Their current efforts are both redactive or revisionist, neither of which is an adjective to be coveted by a serious academician.

They asked "What Does a Social Disaster Sound Like?" Let me tell you.

A social disaster sounds like the disintegration of an elite faculty...of Ivy League import...into a meaningless amalgum of petty unsophisticated social engineers unworthy of tenure at the local community college (my apology to all community colleges). A faculty that foolishly rushes to judgement and then prefers dissembling to confession when embarrassed by the truth.

A social disaster sounds like an institution with a "tin ear" that can no longer distinguish between education and endoctrination...and doesn't have the presence of mind to dismiss itself from the competition. Even an athlete (which the Gang of 88 disdains) knows its time to sit down when he can no longer see a curve ball. It sounds like a school that still believes it means something to be a "Blue Devil" and has something to contribute to meaningful social conversation...when everybody else now knows better.

A "Social Disaster" sounds like a bell going off in the back of everybody's mind as they instantly recognize that higher education in America is no longer relevant. It has become a sad joke. It is no longer worthy of our respect. . We might have thought what happened at the University of Colorado, with Ward Churchill, could never happen at a "real school." The snobs at Duke told us so. The problem of unworthy faculty has become a malignancy. It is systemic.

A "Social Disaster" sounds like the cry of a parent who must ask "where else can I send my children?" Now, that's a disaster.

And...while you and I mourn the demise of the very system that propelled our country to greatness...the little people in their colored commencement robes can be heard chatting with self-importance about their latest, and bravest, attempts at social significance.